New Pacific estimates over 200Moz of silver at Carangas project
New Pacific Metals reported that the first mineral resource estimate for its Carangas silver-gold polymetallic deposit in Bolivia shows over 214.9Mt of total indicated resources.
The Carangas project has an estimated 205.4Moz of silver, 1,588.2Koz of gold, 1,444.9Mlbs of lead, 2,653.7Mlbs of zinc, and 112.6Mlbs of copper.
Total inferred resources are 45Mt, containing 47.7Moz of silver, 217.7Koz gold, 297.9Mlbs of lead, 533.7Mlbs of zinc, and 16.8Mlbs of copper.
"Carangas is a globally significant Ag-Au polymetallic discovery," New Pacific said in a statement.
The Canadian exploration and development company added that mineralisation starts at or near surface, potentially allowing for open-pit mining with an average stripping ratio of around 1.8t of waste per 1t of mineral resource.
Below the conceptual pit, there is substantial gold-dominated mineralised material of similar size and grade to the reported mineral resources with the potential for underground mining, according to New Pacific.
"[New Pacific] believes that these anomalies may host mineralisation similar to what has been drilled this far, underscoring the potential for mineral resource growth through additional drilling campaigns," the miner said.
Mining Journal Intelligence's World Risk Report 2022 rated Bolivia with a score of 48 in its Hard Risk index. This is seen as high risk for mining.
However, after years of resource nationalism aimed at the country's lithium industry under former president Evo Morales, Bolivia seems to be relaxing its restrictions somewhat as it recently signed more than US$1.4 billion of investments with Russia and China for lithium processing plants.
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